Child Development Final Exam
Give an example of an influence within each of the nested structures— microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem—that constitute the environment in Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model
microsystem the immediate environment that an individual child personally experiences & participates in ex: meso the interconnections among immediate settings exo macro chrono
Describe Social Domain Theory and differentiate between moral, societal, and psychological domains of social knowledge and provide examples of moral judgments, social conventional judgments, and personal judgments.
moral domains= fairness, equality, welfare of others societal domains= traditions, customs/authority, group regulations psych domains= personal choice moral judgments- issues of right & wrong, fairness & justice - stealing another kid's toy social conventional judgments- customs or regulations intended to secure social coordination & social organization - table manners, formal greetings personal judgments- decisions that refer to actions in which individual preferences are the main consideration - whom to be friends with distinctions are important because whether children perceive particular judgments as these three affects the importance they accord them
Discuss the role of parental sensitivity in the development of secure attachment
parental sensitivity= caregiving behavior that involves the expression of warmth and contingent responsiveness to children like when they require assistance or are in distress - respond quickly to crying and smiling back - positive exchanges b/w mother/child is important in promoting secure attachment
Discuss the differences between Kohlberg's preconventional, conventional, and postconventional levels of moral judgment and evaluate Kohlberg's theory.
preconventional: self-centered stage 1: punishment & obedience orientation: children's conscience (what makes them decide whats wrong or right) fears punishment & their moral action is motivated by avoiding punishment. child doesn't consider the interests of others or recognize that those interest may differ from their own stage 2: instrumental & exchange orientation: what is right is what is in one's own best interest or involves equal exchange b/w people conventional: centered on social relationships stage 3: mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships, & interpersonal conformity orientation: good behavior= doing what is expected by people the child is close to or what people generally expect of someone in a given role - being good is important and entails having good motives, showing concern about others, & maintaining good relationships w/ others stage 4: social system & conscience ("law & order") orientation: moral behavior involves fulfilling one's duties, upholding laws & contributing to society of group - motivated to keep the social system going & avoid a breakdown in its functioning postconventional: centered on ideals & moral principles stage 5: social contract or individual rights orientation: uphold rules that are in the best interest of the group, are impartial, or were agreed upon by the group human rights like life liberty & basic rights should be upheld regardless of majority opinion - when laws violate these principles, the individual should act in accordance with these universal principles not the law stage 6: universal ethical principles: committing to a self-chosen ethical principles that reflect universal principles of justice - when laws conflict with these principles, they should act in accordance with the universal principles no the law - so few people get to stage 6 that people refer to it as an elaboration of stage 5 Kohlberg says all people all around the world move thru his stages in the same order but differ in how far they go - age-related advances in cog skills like perspective taking underlie the development of higher-level moral reasoning - consistent with Kohlberg, people with higher-level cog & perspective taking skills exhibit higher-level moral reasoning Kohlberg's longitudinal study boys at 10 years- mostly stage 1 & 2 reasononing 14+- stage 3 some adolescents used stage 4 only small # of participants even by age 36 reached stage 5 evaluation - useful in understanding how cog processes contribute to moral behavior criticism= - didn't sufficiently differentiate b/w truly moral issues and issues of social convention - his assertion is not valid across cultures - says that because each stage is more advanced than the previous, once one attains a new stage, they seldom reasons at a lower stage. but research shows that children & adults both reason at different levels on different occasions - gender differences exist?- biased against females little evidence that boys & girls or men & women score differently on Kohlberg's stages of moral reasoning but during adolescence & adulthood, females focus more on issues of caring about others in their moral judgments & men care more about justice
Based on the material in the text, discuss the role of parents in children's relationships with peers
attachment theory- whether a child's attachment to the parent is secure or insecure affects the child's future social competence and quality of child's relationships with peers secure attachment between parent and child promotes competence with peers in at least 3 ways: 1) securely attached children develop positive social expectations and are thus inclined to interact readily with other children and expect those interactions to be positive and rewarding 2) because they had aa sensitive & responsive caregiver, they reciprocate in relationships - give and take and to be empathetic 3) likely to be confident, enthusiastic & friendly- attractive to other children and facilitate social interaction v children w/ insecure attachments - if parents are rejecting & hostile or neglectful are more likely to become hostile themselves and expect negative behavior from others - predisposed to perceive peers as hostile and therefore act aggressively toward them - expect rejection from others and avoid all together by withdrawing from peer interaction securely attached- happier and have good social skills, high-quality friendships and popular throughout their lives 2) ongoing parent-child interactions socially competent & popular children usually have mothers who are generally warm, discuss feelings with them and use warm control, positive verbalization, reasoning & explanations in their approach to parenting father's warmth and affection towards children is linked to positivity of children's interactions with close friends in the preschool years and to children's peer acceptance in elementary school - when family is generally warm, involved & harmonious, young children tend to be sociable, socially skilled, liked by peers & cooperative in childcare - such parenting foster self-regulation - parenting that is harsh, authoritarian and low levels of child monitoring is usually associated with children's being unpopular & victimized - may be that children who are aggressive and disruptive because of constitutional factors (heredity) elicit both negative parenting and negative peer responses OR both harsh parenting and the children's negative behavior with peers are due to heredity- causal links are bidirectional: parent's behavior affects their children's social competence and vice versa. both environmental & biological factors play a role in the development of children's social competence w/ peers - parents can also serve as a buffer for when their children's peer relationships aren't going well: study found that children having difficulty with peers were less likely to experience increases over time in depressive symptoms if they had positive, close relationships with their parents - maternal supportiveness buffers the links b/w adolescents' romantic stress & their later depressive symptoms
Summarize the changes in aggression that occur between the preschool years and adolescence for children.
instances of aggression over possessing objects= before 12 months of age 18 months= physical aggression particularly over the possession of things is normative and increases in frequency until age 2 or 3. then with more language skills come more name calling preschoolers sometimes use relational aggression- intended to harm others by damaging their peer relationships drop in physical aggression toward preschool years(due to increase verbal abilities) overt physical aggression continues to remain low or decline in elementary school aggression in young children is usually goal-directed and in elementary school its hostile with the intent of harm - frequency of physical aggression decreases for most teenagers at least after mid-adolescence adolescent violent crime peeks at 17 - children who are most aggressive and likely to create problems in middle school tend to be more aggressive & delinquent in adolescence- especially for boys - neurological deficits underlie problems that could become more marked with age and result in troubled relationships
Name several ethical responsibilities of researchers, as formulated by the Society for Research in Child Development
(1) Be sure that the research does not harm the children physically or psychologically. (2) obtain informed consent for participating in the research, preferably in writing, from parents or other responsible adults and also from children if they are old enough that research can be explained to them. (3) preserve individual participants anonymity and do not use information for purposes other than that for which permission was given. (4) discuss with parents or guardians any information yielded by the investigation that is important for the child's welfare. (5) Try to counteract any unforeseen negative consequences that arise during the research. (6) correct any inaccurate impressions that the child may develop in the course of the study. When the research has been completed, explain the main findings to participants at a level they can understand.
Define three contexts for gathering data and summarize the advantages and disadvantages of each
(1) Interviews -> Structured interview: children respond to set order of questions asked in person by researcher. - Useful when goal is to collect self-reports on same topics from everyone being studied. Advantages: can reveal children's subjective experience. Structured interviews are inexpensive means for collecting in-depth data about individuals. Clinical interview: Questions are guided by children's responses, Useful for obtaining in-depth information about an individual child. Advantages: allow flexibility for following up on unexpected comments. (2) Questionnaires -> Responses to set questions are written or typed. Information gathered simultaneously through uniform set questions presented to participants. Disadvantages of clinical and structured interviews and Questionnaire-> Reports are often biased to reflect favorably on interviewee, Memories of interviewees are often inaccurate and incomplete. Predictions of future behaviors often is inaccurate. (3) Observations -> Naturalistic observation: children's activities in one or more everyday settings are observed. Advantages: Useful for describing behavior in everyday settings. Helps illuminate social interaction processes. Disadvantages: difficult to know which aspects of situation are most influential. Limited value for studying infrequent behaviors. Structured observation: children are brought to laboratory and presented. Prearranged tasks. Advantages: ensures that all children's behaviors are observed in same context. Allows controlled comparison of children's behavior in different situations. Disadvantages: Context is less natural tan in naturalistic observation. Reveals less about subjective experience than interviews.
Recognize and label examples of each of the three designs for studying development
(1) cross sectional design: children of different ages are compared on a given behavior or characteristic over a short period. Useful for revealing similarities and differences between older and younger children. They do not yield information about the stability of behavior. Example -> Evan, et al. (2011) studied the development of lying in Chinese 3,4, & 5 year olds. The children played a game in which, in order to win a prize, they needed to guess the type of object hidden under an upside down paper cup. However, before the child could guess, the experimenter left the room after telling the child not to peek when gone. The cup was fully filled with candies that if the child peeked, some would spill out and it would be virtually impossible for the child to put them all back under the cup. CONCLUSION: at all ages many children peeked and denied doing so. However, 5 year olds lied more often and their lies were more clever. (2) Longitudinal design: used to track changes over time / used to show casual effects. Example -> Brendgen, et al. (2001) examined children's popularity with classmates from the time they were 7 years old - 12 years old. The popularity of most children proved to be stable over the period of time. Some individuals showed change every year. (3) Microgenetic Design: same children are studied repeatedly over a short period. Designed to provide in-depth depiction of processes that produce change. Example -> Siegler and Jenkins (1989)- study how young children discover the counting on strategy for adding two small numbers. Researchers selected 4 - 5 year olds who did not yet use counting on but who knew how to add by counting from 1. Over an 11 week period, these children received many addition problems and each child's behavior was video-recorded. CONCLUSION: quite a few children discovered the counting-on strategy while working on easy problems that they previously had solved correctly by counting from 1
Describe the 5 fundamental relationships in the model of hereditary and environmental influences
(1) parents genotype - child genotype ½ of mom's genes and ½ dad's genes are inherited. Individual differences due to random assortment and crossing over of chromosomes. (2) child's genotype - child's phenotype Not all genes are expressed (active) Development happens when genes are active (3) child's environment - child's phenotype A given environment can develop different in different environment environment thus influences phenotype (behavior) (4) child's phenotype - child's environment Different behaviors lead to different responses Actively select different surroundings (5) child's environment - child's genotype Epigenetic research - processes like methylation can alter the expression of genes.
Describe the long-term effects of security of attachment
+self-esteem - mothers of insecure/resistant infants are inconsistent in their caregiving (sometimes responsive); mothers usually are indifferent and emotionally unavailable - mothers of disorganized/disoriented babies sometimes display abusive, frightening, or disoriented behavior and may be dealing with unresolved loss or trauma; infants end up confused or frightened - infants w/ insensitive mothers only show a 38% rate of secure attachment - secure children have better behavior, higher self-regulation & fewer mental health problems - better relationships with peers - appropriate emotional responses
Explain three general age-related patterns of change in the development of emotional self-regulation
- 3 years: the emotions people express aren't always their truth 4-6 years: children understand that people can be misled by others' facial expressions display rules- social group's informal rules- showing emotions or masked - 1 1/2 - exaggerated and fake emotional displays break eye contact and avert gaze when lying and use this to lie themselves
Identify the abilities that constitute emotional intelligence
- cognitive processing information about emotions and using that info to guide their thoughts and behaviors - ability to understand one's own emotions and the emotions of others thru facial expressions, body movements and verbal tone - positive outcomes in childhood and adolescence- better able to manage their own emotions and less likely to engage in aggressive behavior - fewer mental health problems, lower risk behaviors and better strategies for coping with stress - self-esteem, personality & cog intelligence
Summarize the developmental changes that occur in friendships between the early school years and adolescence
- friends communicate more often and work together better but also fight more- better at negotiating their way out of a conflict from about 5 years on - now have maturity to take responsibility for the conflict and give reasons for their disagreement- leads to likelihood of maintaining the friendship main change= level and importance of intimacy - ages 6-8-view friends in terms of rewards & costs - early school years-adolescence- children in western & asian countries define friendships in terms of companionship, similarity in attitudes/interests, genuinity, trust, loyalty - 9 years- more sensitive to the needs of others and inequalities of people; friends= those who take care of each other's physical & material needs, provide general assistance & help w/ school work, reduce loneliness & feelings of exclusion & share feelings - adolescents use friendship as a context for self-exploration & working out personal problems- important source of intimacy and disclosure with age; more exclusive because adolescents begin to focus on having just a few close friends - friendships in adolescence can be less stable than they were in middle childhood - 75% of friendships at age 10 persist for the entire school year, only half endure in adolescence why changes? - result of age-related qualitative changes in their ability to take others' perspectives - young kids have less awareness that others may feel or think about things differently than they do (limited) - older, realize friendship fi mutually satisfying
Summarize several major changes in family structure in the United States over the past few decades (single-parents, divorce, same-sex parenting)
- in the past, most children lived with a sibling mother and father now - only 46% of children in US lived with parents who were in their first marraiage - 26% with single parent - 15% cohabitating parents
Summarize major developments (including the use of social referencing) in children's ability to identify the emotions of others
- infants can perceive others' emotional expressions as meaningful - relate facial expressions of emotion & emotional tones of voice to events in the environment - social referencing= using a parent's or other adult's facial expression or vocal cues to decide how to deal with novel, ambiguous or possibly threatening situations - label a fairly narrow range of emotional expressions displayed in pictures or on puppet's faces labeling happiness, fear, anger & sadness - circumstances that evoke self-conscious social emotions like pride, guilt, shame, embarrassment & jealousy- after 7 years - 4-6: accurate explanations for why their peers expressed negative emotions in their preschool, causes of emotion - people can feel particular emotions brought on by reminders of past event : with age - elementary school= how, when & why emotions occur, people can have more than one emotion at the same time, how the mind can be used to increase & reduce fears and that thinking positively can improve one's emotion and thinking - will worsen it - age 10: emotional ambivalence and people can have mixed feelings
Discuss the changes that occur in children's stable cliques from middle childhood through late adolescence and some negative influences of peer groups or gangs
- starting in middle school most kids are in a clique (peer group) - usually of same sex race and between 3-10 people - by age 11 you do everything with these people - feature that underlies cliques- similarities: degree of academic motivation, aggressiveness & bullying, shyness, attractiveness, popularity, adherence to values - more likely to behavior similarly to members of the group - usually unstable- 60% and if in the same class - provide a ready-made pool of peers for socialization, give validation, sense of belonging -increase # of adolescents who belong to many cliques from ages 11-18 - by 7th grade, more mixed gender members - more common to date - by high school, both genders - during early and middle adolescence, children report higher importance on being in a popular group and conforming to the group's norms like dress & behavior - failure to conform could result in being ridiculed - importance of being in a clique declines in later adolescence - want more individual relationships to fulfill social needs - usually belong to crowds (same stereotype reputations) not cliques - "freak" is a loser to the populars - youths in high status crowds have higher self esteem - preadolescents and adolescents are more likely to goof off, smoke, drink, be violent if members in their peer group do so - gang- loosely organized group who identify as a group and usually engage in illegal shit - protection from other gangs -sense of belonging, ways to spend time
Explain how Vygotsky theorized culture plays a role and learning happens through guided participation, intersubjectivity, social scaffolding, zone of proximal development, and interaction
. Vygotsky - viewed children as social learners 3 steps to thought processing: (1) thought is controlled by others (2) private speech [talk to oneself - external] (3) private speech become internal [thought] HOW CHANGE OCCURS: (1) guided participation: engaging young in cultural activities (2) intersubjectivity: attention on the same topic / the mutual understanding that people share during communication. (3) social scaffolding: more knowledgeable other explain, demonstrate, help with difficulties. Social scaffolding is done within zone of proximal development (ZPD). It increases in quality as people become older and gain experience. EXAMPLE: used by parents for developing autobiographical memories. ZPD ZONE - (left side) able to accomplish without help from others / (middle *ZPD zone*) able to accomplish with help of "more knowledgeable" other / (right side) not able to accomplish task even with the help of others.
Discuss two theories that attempt to explain aggressive behavior
1) Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory - happens thru imitation & observation - vicarious reinforcement-observing some1 else receive a reward or punishment would affect the child's subsequent reproduction of the behavior - positive incentive condition: children offered a reward for doing what they saw the model do the doll findings- affects of rewards & punishment of models: gender differences: girls were more aggressive 2) Social Cognitive Theories - children's ability to think & reason about their own and others' people thoughts, feelings, motives & behaviors - emphasizes self-socialization: the idea that children play a very active role in their own socialization thru their activity preferences, friendship choices, and so on
Name three important criteria for good measurement
1) Relevance to hypothesis: do measures map onto what the hypotheses are trying to predict 2) Reliability: degree to which independent measurement of a given behavior are consistent. test-retest ability Interrater reliability -> do different raters who observe the same behavior classify it in the same way? 3) Validity: degree to which measures used actually measure what they intend to measure Internal validity: can other functions within the experiment or study design be the cause of the changes in variables measured? External validity: can you generalize the findings to other population and different times?
Describe what contributes to individual differences in prosocial behavior and what kind of interventions promote prosocial behavior.
1) biological factors humans are biologically predisposed to be prosocial - assisting those with whom they share genes increases the likelihood that those genes will be passed on - twins study= twins reports of their own empathy & prosocial behavior are more similar for identical than fraternal twins - role of genetics in the children's prosocial concerns for others & prosocial behavior increases w/ age - certain genes are associated w/ individual differences in oxytocin (hormone dealing with bonding associated with empathy) - temperament= children who tend to experience emotion w/o getting overwhelmed are especially likely to experience sympathy & act prosocially 2) socialization of prosocial behavior - primary environmental influence - 3 ways that parents socialize prosocial behavior: (1) modeling and teaching prosocial behaving (2) arranging opportunities for the children to engage in prosocial behavior (3) disciplining their children and eliciting prosocial behavior from them 3) peer influences practice in moral reasoning with peers translates into prosocial behavior motivated to do nice things for their friends because they care about them and because doing so ensures that their friends will do nice things for them interventions - school interventions - experience helping & cooperating w/ others - exposure to prosocial value & behaviors - adults' use of reasoning in discipine
Identify the four phases in the initial development of attachment
1) preattachment (birth-6 weeks): infant has innate signals like crying that summon caregivers; infant is then comforted by interaction 2) attachment in the making (6w-8w): infants start to respond preferentially to people; infants form expectations about how their caregivers will respond to their needs and develop their sense of trust 3) clear cut attachment (6-8m - 1.5 years): infants actively seek contact with their caregivers; happily greet their mother and may exhibit separation anxiety when she departs; secure base 4) reciprocal relationships (1.5-2 years): rapidly increase cognitive and language abilities allow them to understand parent's feeling goals and motives and use this to understand their efforts to be near their parents; more mutually regulated relationship gradually emerges; decline in separation anxiety outcome of phases- internal working model of attachment- child's mental representation of the self, of attachment figures, and of relationships in general that is constructed as a result of experiences with caregivers. guides children's interactions with caregivers and other people in infancy and at older ages
Understand three good reasons for learning about child development
1) social policy & child welfare - major policy issue: early education in children - Head Start Programs: pre-school students with parent below a certain income are taught by a qualified staff & are given good resources to help kids prepare for 1st grade 2) best rearing practices: how to rear, help children learn emotional, language & cognitive development 3) understand human nature - human prejudice & bias - how do we venture this in children & nonhuman primates? - empathy, cooperation
Identify several characteristics of aggressive-antisocial children and adolescents, and what factors contribute to the manifestation of aggressive behavior.
1) temperament & personality - difficult temperament and lack of self-regulatory skills from an early age - lack of control, impulsiveness, high activity level, irritability, distractibility - feeling of neither guilt nor empathy nor sympathy for others 2) social cognition - more likely to attribute hostile motives to others when the other person's motives & intentions are unclear - goals in social situations are more likely to be hostile - evaluate aggressive responses more favorably and prosocial responses less favorably reactive aggression- children prone to emotionally driven, hostile aggression & very likely to perceive others' motives as hostile proactive aggression- children prone to fulfilling a need or desire tend to anticipate more + social consequences for aggression
Explain each of the seven enduring themes in child development discussed in Chapter 1
1. How do nature and nurture together shape development? - nature= genes we receive from parent. (twin studies) nurture= both the physical and social environment that influence our development.(studies with adopted children) Today= epigenetic research-> the study of stable changes in gene expression that are affected by the environment. Genome-> behaviors + experiences. Through Methylation -> process involved in regulating reactions to stress. 2.How do children shape their own development? - Child is not waiting for things to happen to him/her. - Selective attention in newborns. (preferences for moving and noisy objects/ preferences for faces [familiar others]) - Talking to themselves - Play (fantasy play -> copying/ 3-4 years old) (rule based games-> self control/ 3-5 years old) 3. Is development continuous or does it occur in stages/discontinuous? - Cognitive development: development of thinking and reasoning, - Piaget's conversion task: current research supports the claim that development is continuous BUT depends on how often you measure the variables of interest and how you measure them. 4. How does change or development occur? - How does change occur? -> increase in connections between brain areas - Nature & Nurture: genes-> production of neurotransmitters which help improve connectivity. / environment: compensates for lack of such genes. - Example of Gene X -> Environment research on effortful attention-> involves voluntary control of one's emotions and thoughts- impulse inhibition, controlling emotions, focusing attention 5.How does the sociocultural context influence development? - sociocultural context: the physical, social, cultural, economic and historical circumstances that make up any child's environment - Socioeconomic status (SES): a measure of social class based on income and education. URI Bronfenbrenner - Bioecological model-> people with whom children interact [most important] / institutions / historical era, economic structure, cultural beliefs, and cultural values [less tangible] - Effects of SES -> cumulative risk: the accumulation of disadvantages over years of development / within culture = poverty 6. How do children become so different from one another? - Scarr's (1992) factors related to differences in kids - Genetic differences - Differences in treatment by parents and others - Differences in reactions to similar experiences - Choices of environment 7. How can research promote children's well-being? - Research= wide variety of benefits in diagnosing children's problems and in helping children to overcome them.
Summarize the expected age-related changes that characterize the development of prosocial behavior.
14 months= children become emotionally distressed when they see others who are upset & express verbal & nonverbal concern for them able to cooperate with another child or adult to reach a goal that will benefit them both 18-25 months= toddlers in lab settings sometimes share a personal object with an adult they saw being harmed by another, comfort an adult who appears injured, or help an adult retrieve a dropped object 2 years= more likely to try to comfort someone who is upset than to become upset themselves, indicating that they know who it is that is suffering 2-4 years= some prosocial behaviors increase and others decrease often ignore their siblings' distress or need w/o intervention 2, 3, 4 year olds equally likely to help an adult get something out of their reach, sharing stickers of food 3 & 4 year olds were more likely to provide assistance or verbal reassurance to adults who were emotionally distressed (young ppl dont know how to act on their feelings of sympathy) middle childhood and adolescence= increase levels of moral reasoning & perspective-taking ability leads them to have more prosocial behaviors
Recognize examples of correlational designs and identify the risks and benefits associated with the use of correlational designs
Correlational designs: studies are used to examine how 2 variables are related to one another. Variables: attributes that vary across individuals and situations. Correlation: association between two variables. **steeper the line, stronger the correlation. Flatter the line, weaker the correlation. Correlation does not equal causation. [direction of causation problem] [third variable problem]
Describe the connection between thinking and action in dynamic-systems theories
Dynamic systems - theories that focus on how change in action occurs over time in complex physical and biological systems. - The centrality of action. - Problem solving often requires motor skills. A major insight of dynamic structures is that thinking would be pointless without motor capabilities. - Children are innately motivated to explore the environment (Piaget) - Children have a precise way of problem solving (info-processing) CENTRAL DEVELOPMENT ISSUES: (1) Self Organization - development is a process of self organization. Integrating attention, memory, emotions and actions to adapt to changing environment. Also called self assembly. (2) Mechanisms of Change - variation & selection. Variation: use of different behaviors to pursue the same goal. Selection: increasing frequent choice of behaviors that are relative in reaching the same goal.
Distinguish between experience-expectant and experience-dependent plasticity
Experience- expectant plasticity: describes the role of general human experience in shaping brain development. - Involves process through which the normal wiring of the brain occurs in part as a result of general experiences that every human who inhabits any reasonably environment will have. General experiences (light, sound, touch, taste, & smell) Love Development impairment happens Experience- dependent plasticity: when neural connections are created and reorganized throughout life as a result of experience. Involves process through which neural connections are created and reorganized throughout life as a function of an individuals experience.
Recognize the essential components of experimental designs, including random assignment, experimental and control groups, independent variables, and dependent variables and explain the major advantage and disadvantage of experimental designs
Experimental designs Random assignment of children to groups and experimental control of procedures presented to each group. Essential characteristics -> random assignment of participants to groups / experimental control / inference about causes and effects allowed Individual variable -> experimental / control Advantages -> allow causal inferences because design rules out direction of causation and third variable problems. Allows experimental control over the exact experiences that children encounter. Disadvantages -> need for experimental control often leads to artificial experimental situations. Cannot be used to study many differences and variables of interest, such as age, sex, and temperament
Provide evidence for human fetal learning
Fetal learning - decreased responses to repeated or continued stimulation- simple form of learning called fetal habituation. Methods: -Fetal response to stimuli -> heart rate responses or breathing patterns. -New born preferences (prenatal experience with rhymes, stories, smells, tastes, sounds) -New borns (recognize familiar rhymes and stories / prefer familiar smells, tastes, & sound patterns)
Summarize the germinal, embryonic, and fetal periods of prenatal development with regard to both the time period encompassed and the major structural changes that occur in the developing organism during each period
Germinal: Conception - 2 weeks. Begins with conception and lasts until the zygote becomes implanted in the uterine wall. Rapid cell division takes place. Embryonic: 3rd - 8th week Following implantation, major development occurs in all the organs and systems of the body. Development takes place through the processes of cell division, cell migration, and cell differentiation, as well as hormonal influences. Fetal: 9th week - birth Continued development of physical structure, behavioral development, and internal organs. Increasing levels of behavior, sensory experience, and learning.
Name the basic processes that underlie information processing and how they relate to brain maturation
Information processes theories - theories that focus on the structure of cognitive systems and the mental activities used to deploy attention and memory to solve problems. Focuses on: 1. precise specification: processes involved in children's thinking used. 2. task analysis: used by researchers- how children perform a task (goals, obstacles, and information). Learning happens when children overcome processing limitations: (1) expanding amount of info they can process at a time (2) increasing processing speeds (3) acquiring new strategies and knowledge. Development of memory: (1) Working memory - actively attending to, gathering, maintaining, storing, and processing information. Limited in capacity (amount of info). Limited in duration (time it holds info). Capacity and speed increase with age (brain maturation and growth in content and knowledge). (2) Long term memory - knowledge that people accumulate over their lifetime (like jeopardy game). Unlimited capacity and duration. Content knowledge is age specific. Development of problem solving: (1) Use of strategies: allows children to overcome limitations of knowledge and processing capacity. (2) Planning: promotes efficiency and success in problem solving.
Name common teratogens and explain at least two factors associated with the likelihood that exposure to teratogens will result in birth defects
List of known teratogens: Drugs/ narcotics Maternal age - can cause autism. Very likely Maternal nutrition Environment pollutants Disease Alcohol - very likely Tobacco (1st & 2nd hand) - very likely Emotional state (anxiety & stress) - can be genetically passed down
Give at least two examples of the ways in which the fetus's behavior contributes to its own development
Movement (5wks) -> hiccups (7wks); swallowing (palate and digestive system); breathing (10wks); Activity same as birth (12wks). behavioral cycles rest-activity cycles (bursts of high activity alternative with little or no activity for a few minutes at a time)- 10 weeks old - latter half of prenatal period infant only moves 10-30% of the time - daily circadian rhythms - active sleep REM
Understand what nativists are proposing in their core knowledge theory and how that differs from other theories discussed
Nativism: the theory that infants have substantial innate knowledge of evolutionary important domains. In regards to Core Knowledge systems, they have 4: (1) inanimate objects and their mechanical interactions. (2) Minds of people and animals capable of goal directed actions. (3) Numbers (4) Spatial layouts. Different from the other theories because nativists claim that children already have an innate knowledge of these things, while the other theories focus on how they form and develop this knowledge through memory and environment.
Identify the parts of the neuron, the major lobes of the cortex, and the different methods for mapping the brain
Parts of the Neuron - cell body, receiving neuron, dendrites, synapse, axon terminals, axon, and myelin sheath Structure of the brain (cerebral cortex) - frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, & occipital lobe Mapping the Brain EEG (commonly used) - the EEG cap holds electrodes snugly against the baby's scalp, enabling researchers to record electrical activity generated from all over the baby's brain. fMRI (commonly used) - (functional magnetic resonance imaging) uses powerful magnet to produce colorful images representing cerebral blood flow in different areas of the brain.
Compare the Five theoretical perspectives presented in this chapter with regard to the central development issues with which they are most concerned
Piaget - children are actively constructing knowledge for themselves in response to their experience information-processing theories - focus on the specific mental processes that underlie children's thinking - actively pursuing goals (similar to Piaget idea) core knowledge - children begin life with a lot of specific cognitive competencies sociocultural - Vygotsky focused on how the social world molds development - dev is shaped not only by interactions with others and the skills learned from them but also by the artifacts with which children interact and the beliefs, values & traditions of the larger society - humans are different because they can teach and learn dynamic-systems - change is the one constant in development - propose there is no period in which great change is not occurring - dev is a self-organizing process that brings together components as needed to adapt to a changing environment (similar to sociocultural theory)
Describe the methods Piaget used to come up with his theory and how proposed development occurs through assimilation, accommodation, equilibration, and his four stages of cognitive development
Piaget's theory - view of children's nature - Children construct knowledge from everybody's experiences (hence label of constructs theory) - Children are seen as "little scientists" because they generate their own hypotheses - Nature and Nurture interact - Cognitive development involves a sequence of 4 stages sensorimotor (birth - 2 years) Infants know the world through their senses and through their actions. For example, they learn what dogs looks like and what petting them feels like (*Also object permanence: knowledge that objects continue to exist even tho you cannot see them*). preoperational (2 - 7 years) Toddlers and young children acquire the ability to internally represent the world through language and mental imagery. They also begin to see the world from other people's perspective, not just their own, concrete operational (7- 12 years) Children become able to think logically, not just intuitively. They can now understand that events are often influenced by multiple factors, not just one. ,& formal operational (12 years+) Adolescents can think systematically and reason about what might be, as well as what it is (abstract thought). These stages constructed through processes of: - Assimilation: a child incorporates incoming information into concepts (form schemas) they already know. - Accommodation: Child improves their current understanding based on new experiences. - Equilibration: a child balances assimilation and accommodation to create stable understanding. **All these 3 processes are continuously reoccurring**
Discuss the characteristics of school-based intervention programs designed to increase prosocial behavior and reduce aggression.
Positive Behavioral Inventions & Supports - school wide intervention that aims to change the overall school climate and reduce - behaviors & increase + ones - based on principles from learning theories that positive student behavior can be increased by praising it when it occurs and having staff model it so kids with imitiate - reward kids who are caught behaving well - pay attention to + behavior instead of only noting - behavior 3 levels of division of prevention programs 1) primary prevention- universal and aimed at all kids & staff at school. posters are hung; school staff are trained to model appropriate behavior 2) secondary prevention- targeted toward children who seem at risk for problem behavior. these kids are given extra attention & monitoring by staff who praise them when they do + behavior - usually targets about 15% of student population - goal= reduction problem behavior 3) Tertiary intervention- focused on children who always engage in aggressive, antisocial or inappropriate behavior - staff creates an individualized plan for each student (interactions w/ counselors) goal- reduce frequency and severity of problem behavior
Discuss the relationships among sensitive periods, plasticity, and vulnerability
Sensitive periods - the science of neglect. Brain sensitivity to external stimuli. (timing is key element in experience expectant plasticity) There are few sensitive periods when the human brain is especially sensitive to particular kinds of external stimuli. It is as though a time window were temporarily opened, inviting environmental input to help organzie the brain. Gradually, the window closes. The neural organization that occurs (or does not occur) during sensitive periods is typically irreversible. (How it relates to vulnerability). Because of the importance of experience in brain development, sensitive periods exist during which specific experience must be present for normal development.
Explain the differences between the stage of the morality of constraint and the stage of autonomous morality in Piaget's theory of moral judgment and evaluate Piaget's theory.
Stage of morality of constraint (heteronomous morality) - first stage of Piaget's moral development - seen in children who have not achieved Piaget's stage of concrete operations (younger than 7 who are in the preoperational phase) - regard rules and duties to others as unchangeable givens - justice is whatever authorities say is right & authorities' punishments for noncompliance are always justified - acts inconsistent with rules and authorities=bad - believe that determines whether an action is good or bad are the CONSEQUENCES of the action not the motives or intentions behind it - Piaget says young kids belief that rules are unchangeable is because (1) parental control of children is coercive, leading to the kid not questioning respect for rules se by adults and (2) children's cognitive immaturity leads the to believe that rules are real things like chairs Stage of autonomous morality - by age 11 or 12 - 2nd stage - children no longer accept blind obedience to authority as the basis of moral decisions & understand that rules are a social agreement and can be changed in the majority of the group feels they need to do so -children believe punishments should fit the crime & think adults aren't always fair in their punishments - also consider the motives & intentions of others when evaluating their behavior - individual differences in a child's progress could be due to differences in cognitive maturity, opportunities for interactions w/ peers & reciprocal role-taking, and how authoritarian and punitive parents are with them evaluation - some support from empirical research - studies of children from different countries show that as they age, boys & girls take more motives & intentions into account when judging the morality of actions - parental punitiveness is associated w/ less mature moral reasoning & behavior as Piaget predicted - (supporting Piaget's belief that cog. dev. plays a role in the dev. of moral judgment) children's performances on tests of perspective-taking skills, Piagetian logical tasks & IQ all have been associated w/ their level of moral judgment - little evidence that peer interaction automatically stimulates moral development - Piaget underestimated children's ability to appreciate the role of intentionality in morality - most 4 & 5 year-olds DONT think that a person caused a negative outcome on purpose if they have been told that the person didn't know of the consequences of their actions or believed that the outcome would be + or - - 3 y/os who saw an adult try but fail to hurt another adult were less likely to help that person than if the person's behavior toward the other adult was neutral - 21 month olds were more likely to help an adult who tried but failed to assist them retrieve a toy than an adult who had been unwilling to assist them
Explain the developmental processes that bring the human brain into being: neurogenesis, myelination, synaptogenesis, and synaptic pruning
Synaptogenesis: - each neuron forms synapses with 1000s of other neurons / formation of trillions of connections. Synaptic pruning - too many synapses so some must be eliminated (pruned) / pruning occurs @ different times in different areas / not fully completed until adolescence. Myelination - the formation of myelin around the axons of neurons that speeds and increases information-processing abilities. Neurogenesis - the proliferation (creation of new neurons) throughout the cell division
Explain how the effects of the environment begin before conception and identify sensitive periods for prenatal development
Teratogens - an external agent that can cause damage or death during prenatal development. Timing = Sensitive period -> the period of time during which a developing organism is most sensitive to the effects of external factors. Dose Duration = dose response relation -> a relation in which the effect of exposure will effect the cause/effect of the exposure. 3 - 12 wks : major structural abnormalities. 12wks - birth : physiological defects and minor structural abnormalities Movement (5wks) -> hiccups (7wks); swallowing (palate and digestive system); breathing (10wks); Activity same as birth (12wks). Hearing-> internal and external sounds. Response to sound (6 months), interest in mom's speech (heart deceleration) Taste-> flavors in amniotic fluid, sweet preference Smell-> smells in amniotic fluid. Good for odor receptors. Sight and Touch-> minimal vision, more tactile.
****MORAL DEVELOPMENT- CH.14
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Name several dimensions of temperament and how they are measured
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Discuss the child outcomes associated with the four different parenting styles defined by Baumrind, and the ways in which ethnicity and culture may affect the outcomes associated with the parenting styles
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Provide an example of each of the three ways in which parents influence their children's development through socialization
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Explain the preferential-looking technique for the study of infant perception
a method for studying visual attention in infants two different visual stimuli are typically displayed on side-by-side screens If an infant looks longer at one of the two stimuli, the researcher can infer that the baby can discriminate between them and that the infant has a preference for one over the other Fantz established that newborns, just like everyone else, would rather look at something than at nothing When a pattern is compared to a plain surface, the infants preferred the pattern Modern preferential learning involves using automatic eye trackers- infants move their eyes freely around the room created by Robert Fantz
Summarize the central ideas of attachment theory, as developed by John Bowlby, including the concept of the secure base
attachment theory= children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments to caregivers as a means of increasing the chances of their survival - freudian idea that infantas' earliest relationships with their mothers shape their later development - secure base- the presence of a trusted caregiver gives an infanta a sense of security so they can explore their environment - caregiver= safe haven when the infant feels threatened or insecure, provides comfort and pleasure from being with child important purposes of attachment= - enhances the infant's chance of survival by keeping the caregiver in close proximity - helps the child feel emotionally secure - form of co-regulation- helps children manage their level of arousal and emotions - attachment is rooted in evolution and increases their chances of survival, develops from the interaction between species-specific learning biases and the infant's experience with their caregiver - innate basis- dependent on the nature of the experiences w/ caregiver
Describe the state of infants auditory perceptions, taste, touch and small, but also provide evidence for intermodal perception in early infancy
auditory perceptions - fetuses can hear very well to learn basic features of their auditory environment (mother's heartbeat, rhythmic patterns of her native language, etc.) - more developed at birth than - over the 1st year, auditory pathways in the brain mature a lot - these improvements help the infant respond to, and learn from sound auditory localization: - perception of the spatial location of a sound source - when an infant hears a sound they turn toward it - newborns & young infants are worse at determining the spatial location of a sound compared to older infants & toddlers -
Describe the levels of warmth and control that characterize each of Diana Baumrind's four parenting styles: authoritative parenting, authoritarian parenting, permissive parenting, and rejecting-neglecting (disengaged) parenting
authoritative parenting= high in demandingness and supportiveness set clear standards & limits for their children and are firm about enforcing them allow their children the autonomy within those limits attentive & responsive to their children's concerns & needs, and respect and consider their children's perspective authoritarian= high in demandingness and low in responsiveness non responsive to their children's needs & tend to enforce their demands thru the exercise of parental power and the use of threats and punishment oriented toward obedience & authority and expect their children to comply within their demands without question or explanation permissive= high in responsiveness but low in demandingness not responsive to their children's needs and don't require their children to regulate themselves or act in appropriate or mature ways uninvolved= low in demandingness and responsiveness generally disengaged
Identify the benefits children receive from their friendships and the possible costs associated with friendships
benefits= support & validation: emotional support and security even at early stages - children with best friends and intimate supportive friendships have less loneliness - children without friends are more likely to develop symptoms of depression and social withdrawal - support is important during periods of transition- children have a more positive initial attitude toward school if they have a lot of friends as classmates (reduces strangeness of environment) - children going onto middle school are more likely to increase their levels of sociability and leadership if they have stable, high-quality intimate friendships - serve as a buffer against unpleasant experiences or being socially isolated - when a best friend wasn't present, the more negative children's everyday experiences were & the greater the increase in their cortisol levels and more decline in sense of self-worth - older u are, the greater the degree to which friends provide caring and support. around age 16 especially adolescent girls report that friends are the most important confidantes and provides of support (more than parents) - help develop social skills & knowledge that children need to form + relationships with others - social norms - promotes cognitive skills and enhances performance on creative tasks - emotional health- + psych and behavioral outcomes for children costs - children who have antisocial and aggressive friends usually exhibit antisocial, delinquent, and aggressive tendencies themselves - unknown if children pick friends who are like them or if they become more like their friends over time - youths who are antisocial and model and reinforce aggression & deviance in one another by making these behaviors seem acceptable- deviance training - adolescents who abuse alcohol or drugs usually have friends who do so also - adolescents' use of alcohol and drugs and their friend's alcohol and substance use mutually reinforce each other - genetic based characteristics and socialization experiences - adolescents with substance-using close friends are at risk especially if their parents aren't involved; kids authoritative parents (high control high warmth) are more protected against peer pressure; kids with authoritarian parents (high control low warmth)- more susceptible to peers' drug use and use these drugs themselves
List the factors that predict friendship formation among children during the preschool and elementary school years
choice of friends - peers who are sociable & prosocial - similarity of interests & behavior - in childhood and adolescence - similar levels of negative emotions young kids - proximity (becomes less important w/ age) - school is where they spend the most time w/ friends - extra curricular or in neighborhoods or religious institutions - similarity in age - gender- girls & girls w/ boys & boys - preference for same gender friendships starts in preschool and continues thru childhood - sometimes race/ethnicity - children can make/maintain friendships by age 3 or 4 - cooperation & + interactions young friends
Discuss some of the socialization practices that parents should follow to foster their children's emotional responding
emotional socialization= the process through which children acquire the values, standards, skills knowledge, and behaviors that are regarded as appropriate for their present & future role in their particular culture emotion coaching
Explain and apply to examples the following forms of infant learning: habituation/ dishabituation, perceptual learning, instrumental conditioning, classical conditioning, statistical learning, rational learning, and observational learning
habituation: another method for studying sensory & perceptual development in infants repeatedly presenting an infant with a particular stimulus until the infant's response to it habituates (declines) then a new stimulus is presented. if the infant's response increases to the new stimulus, it means the baby can discriminate b/w the new & old stimuli dishabituation ****perceptual learning: key process in perceptual learning is differentiation- extracting from the constantly changing stimulation and events in those environment the relation of those elements that are constant--invariant, or stable
Identify several mechanisms that contribute to genetic variability (???)
heritability (influenced by hereditary factors) - heritability estimates indicate the proportion of variance among individuals in given population on a given trait that is attributable to genetic differences b/w them multifactorial- affected by a host of environmental factors
Demonstrate several reflexes that are present at birth, and describe the developmental progression of reaching and self-locomotion
reflexes: innate fixed patterns of action that are a response to particular stimulation - grasping- newborns close their fingers around anything that presses against the palm of their hand - rooting- turning their head in the direction of the touch and opening their mouth - sucking ;)- oral contact with the nipple when their cheeks comes into contact with the mother's breast and open their mouth - swallowing- after sucking; increase the baby's chance of nourishment and ultimate survival - tonic neck- when an infant's head turns or is turned to one side, the arm on that body extends while the arm and knee on the other side flex (keep their hand in view) reaching - reaching is complex because it is the interaction of multiple, independent of components like muscle dev., postural control, dev. of various perceptual & motor skills, etc. - infants are limited to pre-reaching movements= clumsy swiping toward the general area of objects they see - begin to successfully reach for objects at 3 to 4 years old although they fail LOL - at 7 months an infant sits independents and reaching becomes stable - difficult to perceive 3D objects as whole objects - interaction b/w visual & motor development - with age & practice, infants' reaching has better signs of anticipation - by 8 months infants are more likely to reach toward a distant object when an adult is present than when they are alone: want them to see them achieve their goals self-locomotion - at 8 months infants can for the first time have self-locomotion (move around in the environment on their own- no longer limited to where someone carries or puts them) - first step toward this is by crawling - when they walk independently about 11 or 12 months; practice is vital to their mastery of this skill failure in integration of perception and action= scale errors= the attempt by a young child to perform an action on a small object that is impossible due to the discrepancy in sizes of the child & object - fail to realize they are too big for the target - hypothesized to be as a result of failing to integrate visual info during the event
Summarize the course of development of positive emotions, negative emotions, and self-conscious emotions and describe the major milestones that are involved
self-conscious emotions: emotions like guilt, shame, embarrassment, & pride that relate to our sense of self & our consciousness of others' reactions to us
Describe the Strange Situation behaviors of infants in each of the four attachment categories: secure attachment, insecure/resistant (or ambivalent) attachment, insecure/avoidant attachment, and disorganized/disoriented attachment
strange situation - mother/infant - the child accompanied by parent is put i lab playroom with cool toys - introduces them both to room, child is exposed to 7 episodes, including 2 separations of, and reunions with the parent and 2 interactions with a stranger, one when the parent is out of the room and 1 when parent is there - each episode= 3 minutes
Explain the role of temperament in children's social skills and adjustment, incorporating the concept of goodness of fit
temperament= individual differences in emotion, activity level, and attention that are exhibited across contexts and that are present from infancy and thus thought to be genetically based goodness of fit= the degree to which an individual's temperament is compatible with the demands and expectations of his or her social environment differential susceptibility= a circumstance in which the same temperament characteristic that puts some children in high risk for negative outcomes when exposed to a harsh home environment also causes them to blossom when their home environment is positive
Explain the role of technology in friendships today
texting (1) phone calls & social networking are the 3 most common ways kids contact their closest friends girls prefer texts, phone calls and social media more than boys boys are 12x as likely to use gaming sites to connect with friends - greater anonymity- reduce their social inhibitions which could help shy kids interact with others online but be taken outa hand - less emphasis on physical appearance- when conversation is done by typing or audio it allows children to connect with others on their interests & personalities not appearances - more control over interactions- they can control when, how & with whom the connect with and feel in charge of their social lives - finding similar peers- easier because it allows them to connect w/ others who have the same interests and increase their sense of belongingness & well-being - 24/7 access- connect with friends and peers throughout the day- can interfere with school and sleep - it's fun - the more they use instant messaging, the more comfortable they were introducing themselves to new people & suggesting to new friendships that they hang out sometime rich get richer perspective- those youths who already have good social skills benefit from the internet and related forms of technology wen it comes to developing friendships: adolescents who aren't socially anxious or lonely use the internet for communication more often than adolescents who are anxious & lonely social-compensation hypothesis- social media may be especially beneficial for lonely, depressed & socially anxious adolescents: lonely & socially anxious kids prefer online communication instead of face-to-face communication - internet based comm among existing friends allows for self-disclosure which enhances friendship quality
With reference to Dodge's social cognitive theory of provide an example of self-socialization in social development, the hostile attributional bias, and what is meant by the self-fulfilling prophecy
theory- aggression as a problem-solving strategy - hostile attributional bias- the tendency to assume that others' ambiguous actions stem from a hostile intent; becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy (A child's aggressive retaliation to the presume hostile act of a peer
Describe the rapid development of visual acuity, scanning patterns, and pattern perception that occurs during infancy
visual acuity: to determine how clearly an infant can see showing infants who can see the difference between a simple pattern and a solid gray pattern and prefer the patterns deal with looking preferences visual scanning: 4 months- infants can track moving objects smoothly contrast sensitivity: detecting a pattern only when it is composed of highly contrasting elements infants have a poor contrast sensitivity